How many ideas, inventions etc have stayed hidden from the rest of humanity forever?
Perhaps, there is already some crazy invention out there, that can have saved humanity, fixed yet unsolved problems, answer countless unanswered questions; but have stay hidden till date because the inventor is afraid of losing his only and priceless intellectual property, just because of his in ability to bring it to life or at least get some form of patent for it?
Patents allow for people to come open on their ideas or inventions, for the possible common good of humanity. Inventors can thus, be given legal rights or ownership to their intellectual property, by their government, for the duration of their patent; excluding and preventing others from being able to make, use, sell, offering for sale, import, replicate the patented invention, during the period that patent is own.
After the expiry of patents, however, the idea or invention becomes exploitable and reformable by others!
Basically, this model, involves a public domain or repository, where details of the inventions are declared, then patent examiner who issues the patent, if the invention idea is patentable and a bunch of fees, for an enforcable patent to come to life!
Once a patent application is started, next steps will involve a patent examiner, who will analyze and determine, based on many criteria, if your invention idea is patentable and decide upon, whether to reject or grant your patent application. If granted, payment of additional fees, will be required, leading to an issued, enforceable patent!
This model does encourage inventors to reveal their inventions to the public but based on my opinion, is almost equally its flaw!
Yes, you encourage inventors to come out and declare their invention ideas, which is pretty noble but how about; the cost, rigors of applying for a patent etc?
How about the fear of not getting your patent approved, after you have made public claims, detailing your ideas or invention?
And, how about time the lengthy time, during which your patent has to stay, in pending status?
Evidently, a person who lives below 1$ a day, who is so keen on protecting his idea as it is obviously and perhaps, his only possession or property; will definitely consider all these questions mentioned above and countless more!
Imagine what wikipedia says, about costs involved in maintaining patents.
The European Patent Office estimates for obtaining and maintaining their patent, for a 10-year term in 2005, was an average cost of around €32,000.
In the United States; 2000; this cost ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per patent. When patent litigation is involved, the fees are significantly higher. If litigation involves court settlement, costs can get to millions of dollars!
Hahaha, these are costs from more than a decade ago!
(NB: In many nations, costs may be involved in the process of applying for a patent, let alone the additional costs for maintaining it or keep it alive!)
Understanding the above, makes it clear, that if inventors had to rely on conventional patents, for protection of intellectual property; many invention ideas, will stay hidden forever and this may not be doing humanity too much good.
As Trump and security agencies, endlessly look for solutions or infrastructures to curb, say ISIS for instance; the intellectual property to effect this, may already exist somewhere; in someone's head; in someone's scrap book and may have stayed for years already, thus, way hidden from the rest of humanity; because this person or persons, cannot afford the rigor, costs, maintenance and delays involved with patent application!
Apart from costs, that deters inventors from conventional patent application, they are other deterrents:
Remember too, that patents may only be governed by laws of the country, where the patent was established. So basically, the production of an item in China, for instance, that should have infringed upon a U.S patent, would not constitute a valid infringement, under US patent law, unless these items got imported into the USA.
NB. Location is a factor!
In most jurisdictions, third parties are able to challenge the validity of an active patent. This can also happen in a court, where the third party questions, even the patentability of an enforced patent!
A court is always scary and especially to an inventor without affluence or defence!
Like any other property right, a patent may be sold or transferred, licensed to someone else, or be forgotten and abandoned.
This model used in conventional patent is flawed!
Same as it encourages masses of inventors, to come out and declare their inventions as opposed to possibly keeping these, secret forever, this model is flawed in my opinion and steem technology can fix it.
NB. (This is a playful post filled with fun proposal and vague suggestions, for additional services that steem technology could likely offer in the near future. I am not techy but we just always have to let ideas out, it can be purposeful for someone and perhaps @ned or @dantheman in this case. Steemit has given us this freedom to speak uncensoredly!)
Steem technology; the game changer in attainable patents for every inventor:
If patents are modeled after publicity, then it will need a blockchain; steem blockchain!
If it requires a governing body, steem has amazing governors!
If it requires litigation, steem holds quick attorneys and a ton of witnesses!
If it requires a petition, steem is our voice!
If it requires brainstorming plus a means, to create a live and working model of your invention, steem holds supporters!
If it requires secrecy, steem technology is a blockchain, away from the rest of the internet out there!
Steem transactions are quick! You will not decades of waiting, for approval of your patent.........
If you are too afraid of third parties challenging your patent. No courts involved in getting your patent using steem blockchain!
If you want to sell your license, right or ownership to your intellectual property to a third party. Steem technology provides quick, transparent transactions.
This is how and where i see steem technology coming in!
Hahaha!
How can a patent, be the ultimate indication and protection of an invention, if it is destructible; if it eraseable?
Steem technology is indescructible. It provides uneraseable evidence!
How can a patent be desireable, if is not attainable, by the myriads of people with inventions and ideas?
Hahaha, your invention ideas can stolen, even in the myriads of years, you have to wait, to get it approved and what when, you only have the means to maintain your patent for only a year and can't bring your invention to life. You will have lost your intellectual property for free, to the rest of the world! It's all good!
Steem technology, will likely fix all this for us!
Well, steem technolog,y has already fixed this for me and i will show you how, in a bit!
I am about to show you, how i got patent for 2 of my many ideas, using our precious blockchain called steem!
NB. (If steem technology isn't eventually able to render full patent service, then it can most definitely play the role of an alternative strategy for getting intellectual property rights and protection, in the form of something called: A defensive publication, or defensive disclosure; which is an intellectual property protection strategy, used to prevent third party from obtaining a patent on a product, invention, apparatus or invention idea. This strategy involves declaring publicly, an enabling description and/or diagram of the product, invention idea, item or method.
Now, I will show you how i am about to do get exclusive rights to my intellectual property, to 2 of my ideas as i am declaring it publicly upon our public STEEM BLOCKCHAIN and in the face of a myriads of steemian witnesses; for the benefit of me and the rest of humanity, FOREVER!
Well, overall i am sure i have amassed up to a hundred invention ideas over the years, many of which i believe aren't yet in existence. I say many of these aren't in existence, only mostly based on google search and too, based on the exclusivity, that my type of creativity has. Hahaha!
Again, almost all of this post, was hurriedly done at work, so i will make it short.
This 2 ideas are based on sports. Well, i modified existing sports (soccer/football and basketball), so perhaps, it isn't fully mine but i like my ideas still!
* FaceCap Basketball:
Pretty simple! Basically, i am add the swag of a Face Cap to the game of Basketball.
Basketball, is a game for the big boys and it is mostly affiliated with shoes, same as golf or baseball is to a Face Cap!
But here; i also want to add more intricacy, technicality, stunts, props; to the game of basketball, by cutting out "the periphery of vision"; which ofcourse, is a major part of the sport.
Imagine how much more technicality, it will involve, if all the players in a Basketball game, were wearing a Face Cap. Well, i leave you to look at this picture first and imagine where i am headed!
There will be new technicalities involved, for the coaches of Face Cap Basketball.
There will also be additional SWAG and branding, which is so befitting of the Luxurious game of Basketball.
A Lebron James, will definitely want this! I shall stop here, on this one.
* 69 Soccer:
I will let this picture explain:
(the carpet or rug is the floor of my workplace)
So there! Imagine the GOAL posts on a soccer pitch, on each extreme side of the pitch, one towards the left and one towards the right as opposed to towards the centre as in the diagram above. If you know soccer or are a coach of soccer or football, you will instantly understand, the added technicality this will bring to the game. It will be fun and i tell you, it will be new and it will get into the Olympics and will create new soccer coaching jobs!
I will stop here.
Loving steemit!
Additional source/credit to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_publication
Your boy Terry